


May I have this dance?

by Luna_Corvid



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dancing, Flirting, Fluff, John being awkward, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21944170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Corvid/pseuds/Luna_Corvid
Summary: What if Cliff shared the dance with John instead of Lisa?
Relationships: Die-Hardman/Clifford Unger
Comments: 14
Kudos: 38





	May I have this dance?

**Author's Note:**

> I have a headcanon that on his own when he was younger, John was headstrong and brave like we see in-game, but with on his own with Cliff, he’s so enamoured that he kind of just turns into an awkward lovestruck guy who doesn’t know how to deal with Madds Mikelson’s perfection.  
> (Can you tell I have a crush on Madds? >D)

As soon as John arrived, he knew he was way out of his league. The mansion party he had been invited to was magnificent to say the _least._ The ballroom that he currently sat in was adorned to the brim with ultra-expensive artworks, crystal chandeliers, antique furniture and various decorations that were made of very precious metals and gems. It made him feel incredibly small. Almost scrutinised under the watchful gazes of everyone and everything that was clearly worth more money than him in that room.

In all honesty, it was a wonder that he’d managed to make it there at all. He’d been given the invitation two weeks before this event and immediately realised that he had nothing even vaguely resembling high-class clothing: no bow-ties or tuxedos or fancy-ass hats, just regular old shirts and trousers. Nothing special. So, he’d spent the past two weeks frantically looking for said fancy clothing items that were actually near his price range which had resulted in some minor panic attacks that he did not at all enjoy. Eventually, he did manage to find some his size although he ended up paying a lot more than he wanted; and that was for rental clothes!

To add to his dismay, his car had broken down the day before the event and he had to scramble around for an available taxi service because most of them were pre-booked due to it being almost Christmas. This ended up with him being even _more_ stressed and instead of relaxing for the rest of the day as he had planned, he just sat on his sofa worrying. So yeah: That was fun.

Now, he was sitting in the corner of the room on one of the antique chairs nursing a glass of awful champagne and looking around the crowd of people who were merrily dancing to the classical music. Why did he agree to come here again? He had no idea…

“Well, lesson learned I suppose…” He mumbled drearily.

He knew his mask of cockiness wouldn’t save him this time; he’d tried to get some dance partners by acting like he was a professional party-goer and went to events like this all the time but they all either turned up their noses at him or saw straight through him. So, sitting lonely in the corner it is then.

He sighed and sipped the shitty champagne, wondering why he hadn’t just left already.

As he was about to lose himself to his thoughts, he happened to look up and see a particular older gentleman wondering towards his direction. His heart immediately began to quicken and a faint blush crept up his face.

The man was beautiful! Although older than John, he found the other man’s maturity made him more attractive, wise-looking and kind. Not to mention John had a thing for older men and women anyway. As he came closer, John noticed the man’s warm smile and could smell the pleasantly musky cologne he had on. His hair was an interesting mix of fading brown and encroaching silver, and his eyes… Wow. They were a beautiful shade of chocolate brown that complimented his skin tone and hair colour exceedingly well, if eyes were supposed to be the windows to the soul then John was sure that whoever this man was, he was a man of kindness and understanding, of that, John was sure. He was also clearly a man of high class, judging by his obviously expensive tuxedo and trousers as well as his silk tie.

Since when did John’s fantasy of his ideal man become a reality?

By the time he’d thought all of this in his mind, the man in question had already sat down opposite him and started adjusting his tie.

John liked to consider himself a relatively brave person, sometimes a little too cocky and egotistical for his own good which had resulted in him getting into multiple fights when he was younger because he just had to have the last word. Thankfully, he’d cooled down a fair bit since then with just a small streak of his old bad habits remaining. However, the mere presence of this seemingly perfect human being completely erased this in favour of an out of character shyness that made John want to crawl under a table and hide forever.

_What is going on with me tonight?_

But he knew that he couldn’t feign ignorance forever; he could see out of the corner of his eye that his handsome mystery man was not so subtly checking him out with his head resting in his hand on the opposite side of the table.

He silently steeled himself and took a deep intake of breath. _Stay cool John, stay cool… Just tap into that self-confident part of yourself and you’ll be fine!_

…

…

Who was he kidding? He was an absolute mess. This was a terrible idea. He should never have accepted the invitation.

But there’s no time like the present, and what’s the worst that could happen? Does the guy lose interest and leave? Should he take the chance to flirt with him? What if he tries to and completely screws it up? He might as well if he’s only going to be there one night, right? It’s not like he’s ever gonna see this guy again.

_Eh, screw it. I’ve got nothing better to be doing anyway._

Finally, he gathered enough courage to looked directly at the other man. He sat up straight, learned in while resting both arms on the table and in his best faux-confidence voice said: “Hey there. You come here often?”

There was nothing but a pregnant pause of silence.

_Wait… Wait hold on-_

John’s mind was reeling with cringe.

_Did I seriously just…_

This awful realisation was immediately followed by John pretty much just temporarily giving up on life, which was signalled by the look of ‘ _What the hell did I just say?’_ and his head thudding on the table.

He was expecting to hear the opposite chair moving and the click-clack of pricy shoes walking away at a frantic pace, not a sudden hearty chuckle.

_Great. Now he’s laughing at me._

An accented voice stated: “You don’t hit on people very often, do you?”

John replied with an overwhelmed groan of embarrassment and realisation that the stranger’s voice was just as attractive as his face.

“Want to try that again?” The voice asked.

John wished the floor would just swallow him up already. And ordinarily, he would have just sat up and tried to play it off as him being deliberately goofy, but something about this man just made him feel way too nervous to even attempt that by now.

Out of nowhere, he heard the tell-tale clink of a glass being placed down next to him.

_Didn’t I already have a drink there?_

Feeling confused, he looked up and saw a filled up glass in place of the half-empty one he previously had, and looking up further he found that the man opposite him was filling up his glass with a bottle of the same drink. Had he just filled his drink for him? After that awful first introduction?

“Some liquid courage for you my friend?”

Cliff smoothly slid the drink over with the skills a professional bartender; maybe he’d been one in the past? John made a mental note to try and remember to ask the man if he had any prior experience in that sector.

“Oh. Thanks.” He muttered quietly, as he accepted the sparkling beverage.

John lowered his head, still mortified, and took a sip to try and quell the constantly multiplying awkwardness he was feeling.

“My name’s Clifford Unger, by the way. But everyone calls me Cliff.”

The man now known as ‘Clifford’ extended a confident arm towards John with his hand outstretched and a friendly smile on his ruggedly handsome face.

“I’m John Blake McClane. Nice to meet you, Cliff. Sorry about earlier by the way. I-err… Yeah, sorry.” John awkwardly replied. He was struggling to keep looking directly into Cliff’s eyes due to the lingering feelings of embarrassment that remained.

“No, it’s fine.” Said Cliff, as the pair shook hands.

There was a brief moment of silence as both men drank some of their champagne. Then Cliff’s smile reappeared.

“I take it you don’t flirt often.” And said as he hid a cheeky grin behind his already half-empty glass.

“Oh, haha. Very funny.” Retorted John.

Cliff gave a light chuckle. “So, are you just here by yourself? You seem like you don’t want to be here.”

John sighed with mental exhaustion. “Honestly? Yeah, and I guess I was expecting to get on with people here a bit more.”

“That’s very surprising. You look like someone who would have everyone climbing over each other to get your attention.”

John baulked at Cliff’s blatant flirting. He was just glad he wasn’t drinking at the time or else he may have violently choked. Cliff, on the other hand, seemed quite amused by his reaction, bringing a hand over his mouth to try and hide his smile.

“I mean, I did _try_ to converse but everyone seemed already busy or erm-” He leaned in and lowered his voice to a whisper. “-kind of snooty, you know?”

“I understand.” The older man chuckled. “I’ve been here many times before. This place isn’t exactly known for its… Open-mindedness.”

“Ha, I’ll drink in agreement to that.” John said as he triumphantly raised his glass.

Clifford nodded his head in cheerful understanding and they lightly clinked their glasses together, resulting in a light ‘ _tink’_ sound, and drank.

John thankfully felt way more at ease after their ice-breaker conversation, the only anxiety he had left was due to Cliff’s earlier bold flirting.

_Well, at least he seems interested; and thankfully not put off by my appalling attempt._

“What about you?” He curiously enquired. “Are you here with anyone?”

“Ah, yes actually. My friend Lisa was the one who got an invitation, but she insisted it would be a good opportunity for me if I came along. She knows the organisers and managed to talk with them and get me to be a plus one.”

“Oh wow, lucky huh?”

“Definitely!”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘a good opportunity for you’?”

Cliff looked a little bashful and rubbed at the back of his neck as he spoke. “Oh, well… To meet new people. To maybe find a date specifically. I’ve been looking for a while now, no one night stands or anything like that though.”

“So, have you had any luck so far?”

Cliff’s eyes flicked down for a moment before he answered.

“Well, in all honesty, there has been one…”

John felt his heart weigh heavy in his chest. He supposed that there were as they say ‘plenty of fish in the sea’, and normally, he would have thought just that; said ‘Oh well’ and moved on. But something about Cliff had caused him to become completely infatuated in the span of a few minutes. Thinking on it, to him the idea of Cliff going out with anyone else certainly made him feel down. Maybe even slightly jealous. And the fact that all this had happened in such a short time scared him terribly. But it was too late now and he knew it.

As he was about to speak up and ask who it was when a loud announcement interrupted:

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the big ballroom dance of the evening! Anyone who wishes to participate, please make your way to the dance floor with your chosen partner or take a seat for the duration of the song!”

Cliff and John looked around the room so see various couples vacate and rush to occupy the floor as the orchestra prepared their instruments and adjusted their music sheets for their main performance.

John sat back and relaxed, preparing to sit this dance out and drink instead of as he had with all the others. But instead, he saw Cliff stand up and offer his hand yet again.

“Care for a dance, Mr McClane?” He asked with a persuasive, thin-lipped smile.

 _Is he serious? He’s not_ that _interested in me, right? This has to be a pity dance or something._

But Cliff was still there; his arm still outstretched and waiting. A patient grin on his face.

_Oh damn, he’s serious._

For a few moments, John stay sitting, stunned and unsure of what to do. Until he came to the conclusion: _The man you like is asking you to dance with him, are you really going to turn down the only chance you might get tonight and say no?_

So, he didn’t.

He took the risk.

He grasped Cliff’s hand in his with a grin which was equally matched by Cliff, who silently walked them to the dance floor.

As they stopped in a clearing in the middle of the floor, John felt like all eyes were on him. He even caught a few eyes gazing at Cliff and glaring at him. _Odd_ , he thought. Why were they behaving that way?

“Ignore them, John.” Cliff’s smooth voice calmly stated. “They’re just jealous of you.”

John quietly scoffed. “Jealous? Of me?”

Cliff put one arm around John’s waist and raised his other hand, that was still entwined with John’s, to their side and parallel with their heads.

“Yes. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

John nervously laughed at Clifford’s continued flirting and fervently shook his head. “

“Don’t be ridiculous, they’re clearly all angry at _me_ for being with _you_. They’re _glaring_ at me.”

“Then they clearly don’t appreciate how lucky I am for having you with me.” Cliff remarked with a gentle smile.

John sighed defeatedly and lowered his gaze. “Whatever you say…”

Cliff noticed John’s depressed demeanour and looked around, spotting the people John was talking about. He returned their glares with one of defiant, intense hatred and they soon looked away with embarrassed and scared expressions.

The first notes of the orchestral song began to play as the delicate plinks of piano keys and the haunting, harmonious hums of the numerous violins.

Cliff briefly let go of one of John’s hands and tipped up his chin.

“Chin up, John. Let’s make them all even more envious and have some fun.”

John sighed in despair. “Sure.”

And everyone started to dance.

It immediately hit John that Cliff had much experience with this dance as he fluidly mastered every movement: his feet slid across the floor as if they were a delicate brush in the hands of a master artist as he tactically guided John of out the way of other couples whom John almost collided with on multiple occasions due to his inexperience in any kind of dancing full stop. And all this while sparing loving glances at the man he was partnered with. Not that John noticed; he was too busy staring at his feet and trying not to trip over or step on Cliff’s.

“You haven’t danced much before have you?” Cliff asked.

“It’s pretty hard not to notice, isn’t it?” John shyly replied. “I tried to find someone to practise with but, erm, yeah. No luck. I was kind of just planning on sitting in all out.”

“If it’s any consolation, I’ve had much worse.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. The last person I danced with kept falling over and we bumped heads several times.”

“Ouch. I guess I’m not _that_ bad then?”

“Not even close.” Cliff smiled contentedly before suddenly looking up in excitement. “Ah! It’s my favourite part!”

John was confused for a second until the music began to drastically amp up; it became notably more dramatic and quickened significantly, much to John’s chagrin.

Not that he had much time to be annoyed as suddenly, Cliff wrapped his arms around John and spun him around and around and around again and again until John was sufficiently dizzy while Cliff was laughing at the other man’s surprise.

“Give a guy a warning, Cliff! Jeez!” John exclaimed in shock when his vision had finally stopped spinning.

Cliff, on the other hand, shared no sympathy for his partner and heartily laughed.

“Sorry,” He said as he was, without a doubt, not sorry. “Just one more thing.”

“One more wha-”

As the orchestra played out the song’s dramatic finale, Clifford, keeping one arm around John’s waist, placed his free hand in John’s and suddenly dipped him low as the music came to a stop, causing John to gasp in shock and get a small moment of butterflies in his stomach.

Then Cliff kissed him.

It was a tender, loving but passionate kiss; a kiss that showed how much he had come to care for John despite their short time spent together. John could feel a slight smile on Clifford’s lips.

He knew he should be completely shocked, and he was a little bit, but for the most part, he felt happy; relieved that this was explicit proof that Cliff felt the same as he did.

When Cliff pulled away, there was frantic clapping and delighted cheering from all around them. As John was upright once more and looked around, and to his surprise, he saw that all the cheering and applause was for them! The majority of the hall’s entrants wore delighted and cheery expressions

“See John?” Cliff said, gesturing to the crowd. “They all love you; just as I do.” He continued with a sultry wink.

John gawped. “Love? That’s a bit much too soon don’t you think?”

“Well, maybe if you agree to a date with me, you can decide for yourself.” He smirked with a cheeky grin.

“Err…” The cogs in John’s head began turning. His first instinct was ‘Hell yes!’ before his doubts kicked in. _Is he being serious? He seems like he is… Maybe he’ll realise I’m not good enough if I do go on the date. This is going pretty quick, but it’s not like I can pretend that I don’t feel the same._ He sighed internally. _Ah man, well, it’s just a date, right? If it goes well, it goes well, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. And who says John McClane doesn’t take risks?_

He gulped in anxious anticipation.

“What the hell, let’s give it a whirl.” He almost maniacally grinned with excitement.

Cliff laughed again in pure glee. “Can I hug you, John?”

John smirked. “You’ve already kissed me so why the hell not?”

So, they both embraced each other tightly, Cliff laying his head on John’s shoulder.

John liked how warm Cliff was; he was a human radiator. _That will come in very handy when cuddling on cold days_ John thought before blushing slightly as he realised what he’d just thought. He felt Cliff smile once again on his shoulder. _I guess he really is happy to be with me huh?_

As Cliff was pulling out of the hug, he lay a gentle kiss to John’s temple, which, of course, made John blush again.

 _What is with all this damn blushing tonight? Has this guy hooked me that bad?_ John internally smirked. _Who am I kidding? He absolutely has._

“You like to blush a lot, don’t you?” Cliff had yet again noticed.

John let out a noise of exasperation. “It’s just a lot to take in. Romance isn’t something I have much experience in.” He confessed as he lightly scratched his nose.

Clifford smiled and caressed John's cheek. “Then I’ll make it my mission to change that.” He stated lovingly; his unidentified foreign accent combined with the low timbre of his voice making that sentence way sexier than it had any right to be in John’s mind.

John was about to reply when a female voice interrupted him.

“Cliff! You’ve found someone I see?”

Both men turned to see a beautiful, slim woman with wavy blonde hair approaching them. She wore shiny pearl jewellery including earrings, a necklace and bracelets that were complemented wonderfully by her bold, blue V-neck, strapless dress and navy high heels.

“Oh, Lisa! Hello.” Cliff smiled. He then turned to John and gestured to Lisa. “John, this is my friend Lisa. Lisa this is John.”

Lisa showed a matching smile and reached her hand out to shake John’s. “Lovely to meet you, John. You’ve taken interest in my friend here I see?”

John stuttered a bit in surprise before shaking Lisa’s hand.

“I-I mean, yeah. He’s nice.”

“Just nice?” Cliff looked jokingly offended.

John chuckled in red-faced embarrassment, not sure what to say. Fortunately, Cliff realised this and saved John from further awkwardness when he wrapped an arm around John’s waist and said: “I must admit, John here has me quite smitten; completely wrapped around his finger. He just agreed to a first date.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Congratulated Lisa with a beaming smile.

“Thank you.” The two men simultaneously replied, before looking at each other in alarm and laughing at the unintended jinx.

“Well, I’m afraid we’ll have to be leaving in a moment.” Said Lisa, checking her silver watch. “I promised the babysitter you’d be back around 9 pm. I’ll meet you by the car?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll meet you there in a moment.”

Lisa nodded politely and sauntered towards the building’s entrance.

John held an expression of slight confusion as he looked at Cliff.

“Babysitter?” He asked.

Cliff nodded in understanding and replied “Ah yes. I was about to tell you before Lisa arrived: I have two little ones at home.”

“Oh.” John was a little stunned, this wasn’t something he had expected, but he didn’t dislike it. He was overjoyed! He’d actually always wanted kids of his own.

“If you wish to cancel our date, I’d understand.”

“Oh, no! Not at all!” John desperately grasped Clifford’s hands in an attempt to soothe his worries. “I love kids. I’ve wanted some of my own for as long as I can remember.” He smiled at the thought. “If getting with you means taking on your children as well, I’d gladly do it in a heartbeat one thousand times over, Cliff.”

Cliff definitely looked like he was expecting the complete opposite answer judging by his taken aback look, but as John’s honest one slowly sank in, a sunny smile grew and he passionately embraced John once again.

“I feel so lucky…” He softly whispered.

John just smiled contentedly.

“So, want to tell me about them?”

Cliff hummed in delight as he enveloped John’s neck with his arms.

“My oldest is Sam; he’s 7 years old. Very shy but incredibly kind. His mother was the first relationship I ever had. Unfortunately, she became more interested in partying and cheating on me with strangers than actually taking care of her own child. And my youngest is Louise, she’s only a month old; she was adopted a few weeks ago from a local orphanage. Originally, I wasn’t planning on adopting anyone, but we passed a group from there playing in the nearby park and as Sam began playing with them, he became incredibly attached to Louise in particular. This continued for weeks until I finally gave in and decided to adopt her so he could be with her all the time. He is an excellent big brother; he cares for her very much.”

“They sound wonderful.” Said John wistfully.

“They really are.” Cliff replied.

Lisa’s urgent voice suddenly rang out from the departing crowd “Come on, Cliff! We have to go!”

Cliff was instantly snapped out of his reminiscing and sent an apologetic look towards John.

“Sorry for keeping you. You probably have to get home too, right?”

John glanced at his watch, his eyes widening as he realised how late it was.

“Oh damn, you’re right. I have to hurry, I only had enough for a taxi ride here and if I wanna catch the last bus of the night I’ve got to go now!”

John grew slightly frantic and was about to bolt back to the table he sat at to grab his stuff when Cliff’s hand grabbed his forearm.

“We could take you home.” Cliff calmly stated.

John hesitated. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to cause you any trouble, Cliff.”

Clifford chuckled and shook his head with an amused expression. “Nonsense, it would be no trouble. Do you have anyone you need to get back to?”

“No, it’s just me at home.” John shook his head.

A quick flash of sadness crossed Cliff’s face before he replied. “I see. Then do you mind getting dropped off after me? I don’t want the little ones to worry too much.”

“Sure, that’s no problem. Say hi from me, will you?”

“Absolutely.”

After Cliff and John gathered their belongings, Cliff offered his arm to John, which John excitedly took, and gently guided John towards the large, wooden front doors of the mansion. When they reached the car park, Cliff lightly kissed John’s cheek and cupped his face in his slightly calloused hands.

“Thank you so much, John. You’ve made tonight very special for me.”

Not expecting this, John chuckled in embarrassment and hid his face in Cliff’s shoulder. “Thank you too. So much. I never expected to feel like this.”

John smiled.

“Okay lovebirds, let’s get you guys home.” Smiled Lisa, waving to them from her red convertible.

The ride home was nice and comfortable, the sleepy silence only being occasionally interrupted by Cliff and Lisa talking about their day and how sleepy they were going to be once they’d got back to their respective homes.

Once it was time for Cliff to be dropped off, he bid his goodbyes.

“I’ll see you another time Lisa.” He said as he hugged her.

“Same to you Cliff.” She replied.

Then he got out of the car and opened the door to where John was sitting and pulled out his phone.

“Oh, before I forget, may I have your number?” He excitedly asked.

John didn’t know how much more he could take getting flustered that night.

“Oh yeah, hold on.” He fumbled around in his trouser pocket until he finally found his phone and exchanged numbers with Cliff.

“I’ll check when I’m next free and we can arrange our date for then. Is that okay?”

“That’s wonderful.”

Then he reached in for an accepted hug that ended up lasting a little longer due to neither man wanting to let go. John adored how warm and cosy Cliff felt every time they hugged; it felt like pure love. He could feel himself slowly but surely becoming addicted.

Cliff pulled John into a gentle kiss that caused both of them to smile and laugh as they pulled away.

“Goodbye, John.”

“Goodbye, Cliff.”

Cliff shut the car door and gave Lisa and John a polite wave as they pulled away to which both gleefully returned; especially John who felt like all his life’s worries had temporarily drifted away. The friendly silence returned for a few minutes as Lisa followed the car’s GPS to John’s address until Lisa spoke up.

“You are infatuated with him, aren’t you?” She asked with a knowing smirk.

John blushed a little and looked down at his lap.

“He’s just…”

John was silent for a moment, trying to make sense of his thoughts that had been thoroughly scrambled by Cliff’s existence. Until finally, he settled on:

“I suppose he just completes me.”

Lisa grinned widely.

“I don’t think I’ve ever said this but, I have a pretty good feeling you’re going to make him very happy.”

John couldn’t stop himself from smiling the entire way home.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive critisism is welcome! Merry Christmas!!!


End file.
